The Power of Words

I
A dedicated Hellenophile in college, I encountered Greek words in class and out.

Poiesis, for example, from the ancient Greek word ποίησις (derived from  ποιέω, a verb meaning "to make"). I look it up online and remember making poems, studying poems, performing poems onstage. An entry in Wikipedia especially intrigues me:

"Martin Heidegger refers to it as a 'bringing-forth' (phusis as emergence), using this term in its widest sense. He explained poiesis as the blooming of the blossom, the coming-out of a butterfly from a cocoon, the plummeting of a waterfall when the snow begins to melt. The last two analogies underline Heidegger's example of a threshold occasion: a moment of ecstasis when something moves away from its standing as one thing to become another. (These examples may also be understood as the unfolding of a thing out of itself, as being discloses or gathers from nothing [thus nothing is thought also as being]). Additional example: The night gathers at the close of day."

And ecstasis from the ancient Greek ἔκστασις meaning "to be or stand outside oneself, a removal to elsewhere" from ek- "out," and stasis "a stand, or a standoff of forces." Twice, I have experienced standing outside myself onstage, once in a rehearsal and once in a performance, moments that -- like the only TM experience when meditation meant mental silence but not so healthy -- threatened my performance.

And catharsis from the ancient Greek κάθαρσις, meaning "cleansing" or "purgation," a theatrical term relating to the power of tragedy to move the audience through pity and fear, a kind of intellectual/emotional cleansing in the face of suffering and beauty.

II
Today, I encountered two works, one indirectly and one directly poetic, both evoking to ecstasy through language leading to catharsis.

An NPR article, "The Writing Assignment That Changes Lives," confirms what I know firsthand as a literature and composition teacher:

"Experiments going back to the 1980s have shown that 'therapeutic' or 'expressive' writing can reduce depression, increase productivity and even cut down on visits to the doctor.

" 'The act of writing is more powerful that people think,' Peterson says.

"Most people grapple at some time or another with free-floating anxiety that saps energy and increases stress. Through written reflection, you may realize that a certain unpleasant feeling ties back to, say, a difficult interaction with your mother. That type of insight, research has shown, can help locate, ground and ultimately resolve the emotion and the associated stress."

Simon Armitage's (newly elected professor of poetry at Oxford University) poem, "Out of the Blue," performed  by Rufus Sewell, makes universal the details of a single event, and horror becomes beautiful in the making.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4